2021 Memorial Marco Pantani (1.1), Italy
18th edition: Saturday, September 18, 2021
Memorial Marco Pantani podium history | 2020 edition | 2022 edition
Castrocaro Terme-Cesenatico, 196 km
Sonny Colbrelli wins in Cesenatico. Sirotti photo
Weather at the finish city of Cesenatico at 2:40 PM, local time: 23C (74F), thunder, with the wind from the east at 14 km/hr (9 mph). There is a 75% chance of rain.
The race: Here's the report from winner Sonny Colbrelli's Bahrain Victorous team.
Sonny Colbrelli takes his first victory in the European Champion's jersey as he sprints to win at the Memorial Marco Pantani in Cesenatico, Italy.
This year’s edition featured a traditional course of 196km from Castrocaro Terme Terra del Sole to Cesenatico. The Montevecchio circuit with a 5km climb (average slope of 6-8%) to be covered three times, and the Cesenatico 5km circuit, to repeat four times, represented the critical parts of the race.
After the day’s breakaway was resumed with about 40km to go, a group composed of about 12 riders, including Sonny Colbrelli, formed at the front. At 169km, a dozen other riders joined them, and the Italian Champion could enjoy the support of two teammates Hermann Pernsteiner and Stevie Williams. Both worked hard to keep a high rhythm in the final circuit in Cesenatico, which made it more challenging due to the rain.
Our riders also controlled a late attack of Zana with 2km to go, and everything was set for a final sprint. As a favourite, Sonny Colbrelli didn’t miss this chance to shine with his European Champion jersey and outsprinted Albanese (Eolo-Kometa) and Aramburu (Astana-Premiertech), taking the win at Memorial Pantani for the second time.
Sonny Colbrelli: “When you ride as a favourite, it’s always complicated. It’s not easy to manage to win, but in the end, I succeeded, and I’m very pleased as it’s a special race, in honour of a beloved champion of cycling. I must admit it was harder than I thought. It was important to take this victory after finished Coppa Sabatini as a runner-up. Now my morale is high ahead of a massive important race as the Worlds”.
Alberto Volpi, SD Bahrain Victorious: “The race unfolded as we expected. Our boys worked well and as planned. Then Sonny finalised the job with a perfect sprint. He was feeling better than on the previous races in Tuscany. He’s keeping on his good momentum both physical and mental”.
Complete Results:
196 kilometers raced at an average speed of 40.484 km/hr
| 1 | COLBRELLI Sonny | Bahrain Victorious | 4hr 50min 29sec |
| 2 | ALBANESE Vincenzo | Eolo-Kometa | s.t. |
| 3 | ARANBURU Alex | Astana-Premier Tech | s.t. |
| 4 | TRENTIN Matteo | UAE Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 5 | MARTIN Gotzon | Euskaltel-Euskadi | s.t. |
| 6 | SBARAGLI Kristian | Nazionale Italiana | s.t. |
| 7 | VILLELLA Davide | Movistar | s.t. |
| 8 | BURGAUDEAU Mathieu | TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 9 | GEOGHEGAN HART Tao | INEOS Grenadiers | s.t. |
| 10 | BAIS Mattia | Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | s.t. |
| 11 | RAVANELLI Simone | Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | s.t. |
| 12 | FERRON Valentin | TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 13 | ULISSI Diego | UAE Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 14 | GABBURO Davide | Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè | s.t. |
| 15 | KUDUS Merhawi | Astana-Premier Tech | @ 4sec |
| 16 | ANGULO Antonio | Euskaltel-Euskadi | 0:07 |
| 17 | RUBIO Einer | Movistar | s.t. |
| 18 | PERNSTEINER Hermann | Bahrain Victorious | 0:11 |
| 19 | PICCOLO Andrea | Nazionale Italiana | 0:15 |
| 20 | DOUBEY Fabien | TotalEnergies | 0:21 |
| 21 | ZANA Filippo | Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè | 0:24 |
| 22 | BATTISTELLA Samuele | Astana-Premier Tech | 0:29 |
| 23 | CHRISTIAN Mark | Eolo-Kometa | 0:41 |
| 24 | WILLIAMS Stephen | Bahrain Victorious | 0:44 |
| 25 | BAIS Davide | Eolo-Kometa | 1:25 |
| 26 | GAZZOLI Michele | Colpack Ballan | 4:22 |
| 27 | GRELLIER Fabien | TotalEnergies | s.t. |
| 28 | FIORELLI Filippo | Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè | s.t. |
| 29 | ZAMBANINI Edoardo | Zalf-Desiree-Fior | s.t. |
| 30 | OKAMIKA Ander | Burgos-BH | s.t. |
| 31 | RESTREPO Jhonatan | Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | s.t. |
| 32 | COVILI Luca | Bardiani-CSF-Faizanè | s.t. |
| 33 | ZARDINI Edoardo | Vini Zabù | s.t. |
| 34 | FORTUNATO Lorenzo | Eolo-Kometa | s.t. |
| 35 | MUNOZ Daniel | Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | s.t. |
| 36 | LUCCA Riccardo | General Store-F.lli Curia | s.t. |
| 37 | CATALDO Dario | Movistar | 4:28 |
| 38 | PUCCIO Salvatore | INEOS Grenadiers | s.t. |
| 39 | TESFATSION Natnael | Androni Giocattoli-Sidermec | s.t. |
| 40 | SOLER Marc | Movistar | 4:31 |
| 41 | COVI Alessandro | UAE Team Emirates | s.t. |
| 42 | MOSCON Gianni | INEOS Grenadiers | s.t. |
| 43 | DE MARCHI Alessandro | Nazionale Italiana | 4:49 |